Webb Discovers Early Galaxy with Odd Light Signature

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have spotted a galaxy with a never-before-seen light signature — indicating that its gas is outshining its stars. Found approximately one billion years after the Big Bang, this galaxy — labeled JADES-GS+53.12175-27.79763 (GS-NDG-9422 hereafter) — may be a missing-link phase of galactic evolution between the Universe’s first stars and familiar, well-established galaxies.

Detailed information on the chemical makeup of GS-NDG-9422, captured by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument, indicates that the light we see in this image is coming from the galaxy’s hot gas, rather than its stars. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Cameron, University of Oxford.

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